Grip transfer arm

ABSTRACT

A grip transfer arm as used in apparatus for applying plastic grips to wire bail handles is provided with improved tubing gripplates. This improved grip transfer arm provides grip-plate retaining means adapted to permit a damaged grip-plate to be replaced without disassembly of the apparatus.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Raymond A. Heisler [56] References Cited 657 Dakota Trail, Franklin Lakes, NJ. UNITED STATES PATENTS 07417 r pp No. 868,416 3,444,905 5/1969 Heisler 140/7) [22] Filed Oct. 22, 1969 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr.

[45] Patented Sept. 7, 1971 Attorney-Ralph R. Roberts [54] Z L E ABSTRACT: A grip transfer arm as used in apparatus for applying plastic grips to wire bail handles is provided with im- [52] [1.8. Ci 140/75 proved tubing grip-plates. This improved grip transfer arm [5 1] Int. Cl B211 45/00 provides grip-plate retaining means adapted to permit a [50] Field of Search 1. 140/75, 93 damaged grip-plate to be replaced without disassembly of the B; 29/208 B apparatus.

GRIP TRANSFER ARM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This invention relates to improvements to grip-applying ap- 5 paratus as shown and described in my U.S. Pat. application filed May 19,, 1969, Ser. No. 825,800 and entitled Method and Apparatus for Applying Plastic Grips to Wire Bail Handies" and now abandoned for a continuation-in-part application with the same title, filed Jan. 19, 1971.

BACKGROUN D OF TH E INV ENTION 1. Field of the Invention The field of invention relates to wire working and more particularly relates to the making of wire bails adapted for attachment to eared containers.

2. Description of the Prior Art U-shaped bails of wire are well known in the art, and more recently apparatus combining the operation of forming and applying wire bails to eared containers has also become well known. In particular, high speed apparatus for forming and applying a wire bail to an eared container in one operation is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,578 of Mar. 22, 1966.

The present invention, to be hereinafter described, relates to the improvements in apparatus used in providing a handgrip of plastic tubing to the midportion of the wire bails and in particular as made by the bail-applying apparatus shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,578 in combination with the grip-applying attachment shown in my above-identified application Ser. No. 825,800. In this application there is shown a grip transfer arm which is provided with a pair of grip-plates carried by an extending tongue portion of the am. On occasion these gripplates become damaged and must be replaced which in the apparatus of application Ser. No. 825,800 requires a partial disassembly of the attachment, replacement of the damaged plates and then reassembly of the apparatus.

As this grip attachment is now commercially used in more than 30 machines operating as parts of production lines whose speeds are usually at 60 units per minute, a shutdown of this line for a period of one-half hour or so for repair replacement of the grip-plates is a factor in the production cost and reduces the efficiency and operation of the production line. Damage to these grip-plates may occur for any one of several reasons such as: bent wire caused by improper adjustment of the wire straightener; oversize plastic tubing; short grips caused by dirt in the chucks of the tubing feeding apparatus; a change in or an improper setting of the stop adjustment for the transfer arm; improper tension in the springs retaining the grip-plate; damage to the return spring for moving the grip transfer arm to the tubing receiving position, and/or distortions to the leading end of the wire and/or tubing caused by dull cutting dies for either the wire and/or tubing. Whatever the reason, it is highly desirable that the replacement of the damaged gripplates be speedily and easily accomplished so that the line shutdown may require the very minimum time. The improved grip-plate holding or retaining means of this invention permits the plates to be changed in a very fewminutes and without dis assembly of the grip-applying apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The grip transfer arm of the plastic grip-applying mechanism is provided with a pair of spaced and positioned dowels having their ends extending above and below the upper and lower surface of the extending tongue portion of said grip transfer arm. Upper and lower leaf-type springs are attached at one edge to the arm and are disposed so that the unattached edge will engage the outer surface of a grip-plate and press the plate toward and to a support surface of the tongue portion. Positioning holes in the grip-plates are sized and disposed so as to engage the protruding dowel ends and when mounted thereon are maintained in position by the bias of the leafspring. Removal and replacement of the grip-plate requires BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 represents an isometric view of a grip transfer arm and showing the improved grip-plate retaining means, and

FIG. 2 represents a fragmentary sectional view of the grip arm tongue and showing in particular the grip-plates mounted thereon.

In the following description and in the claims various details will be identified by specific names for convenience; these names, however, are intended to be generic in their application. Corresponding reference characters refer to like members throughout the two figures of the drawings.

The drawings accompanying, and forming part of, this specification disclose certain details of construction for the purpose of explanation of the broader aspects of the invention, but it should be understood that structural details may be modified in various respects without departure from the concept and principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 7 Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is to be noted that a arm 50 is substantially the same as the grip arm 50 as seen in FIGS. 2, 9 and 10 of my application Ser. No. 825,800. Bearing bushings 56 are press'fit in bores 57 in the arm 50 to permit the arm to be pivoted in the manner described in the above identified application. Lower forwardly extending tongue 58 of the grip arm 50 is formed with upper and lower support surfaces 60 and 61 adapted to receive and support upper and lower grip-plates 62 and 63. In the embodiment of this invention these plates are substantially identical and are generally fiat with only the outer extending edge bent or curved to retain a tubing length 65 (phantom outline FIG. 2) of determined diameter. In the exemplified embodiment the outer extending portions are each bent from a common plane to provide an inner included angle of more than A pair of dowels 67 are press-fitted in precisely positioned holes in the tongue 58. These dowels 67 are of a determined length disposed so as to extend a short distance above the surfaces 60 and 61 of the tongue, and as shown, this distance is about equal to the thickness of the retained grip-plate.

To the lower surface 63 of the tongue 58 and the rear portion thereof there is fastened a leaf-spring 70. This spring is attached to the arm by means of button-head screws 72 which are mounted in tapped holes formed in the arm 50. This spring is bowed so that when attached to the arm the forward edge of the spring is disposed to engage and press against the lower grip-plate 63 at .a line contact at a point aboutmidway between the tubing 65 and dowels 67. To the forward face 75 of the arm 50 there is attached an L-shaped leaf-spring 76 which is retained by button-head screws 72 mounted in tapped holes formed in the arm 50. This spring is formed so that when attached to the face of the arm the forward edge of the spring will engage and press against the upper surface of upper gripplate 62 at a line contact at a point also about midway between the tubing 65 and dowels 67.

USE AND OPERATION The grip transfer arm 50 of this invention is used in exactly the same manner as is the grip transfer arm shown and described in application Ser. No. 825,800 above-identified. The upper and lower grip-plates 62 and 63 as retained by springs 76 and 70 are bias-retained by these springs so that they may be pivoted outwardly around dowels 67 to release the tubing 65 when and after it has been cut and transferred to and in way of the advancing wire. In this respect the arm 50 and bias-retained grip-plates 62 and 63 provide the same method and means of tubing cutoff and transfer as before. The improvement provided by this invention is in the ease of removing and replacing grip-plates 62 and 63 on the extending tongue 58.

To remove the upper grip-plate 62, the outer curved portion is grasped and is urged toward grip-plate 63 so as to lift the inner portion of grip-plate 62 from its engagement by dowels 67. While in this tilted and disengaged condition the grip-plate 62 is moved outwardly until it slides from under the grip of spring 76 after which the grip-plate is repaired or discarded. To install a new or repaired grip-plate 62 it is only necessary that a rear portion of the grip-plate be slid under the retaining outer edge of spring 75. The grip-plate is then tilted as for removal from the dowels and is pushed inwardly until the dowel holes in the grip-plate are aligned with the ends of the dowels after which the grip-plate is released to engage the dowels and seat on the upper tongue surface as in FIG. 2.

To remove lower grip-plate 63, the outer curved portion is grasped and urged toward grip-plate 62 so as to lift the inner portion of grip-plate 63 from its engagement with the extending ends of dowels 67 While in this tilted and disengaged condition the grip-plate 63 is moved outwardly until it slides from under the grip of spring 70 after which the grip-plate is repaired or discarded. To install a new or repaired lower gripplate 63 it is only necessary that a rear portion of the gripplate 63 be slid under the retaining outer edge of spring 70. This lower grip-plate is then tilted as it is for removal from the dowels and in this tilted condition is pushed inwardly over the dowel ends until the dowel holes in the plate are aligned with the ends of the dowels after which the grip-plate is released to engage the dowels and seat on the lower tongue surface 61 as seen in FIG. 2.

In the above-described manner the present invention provides means for easy removal of either one or both of the upper and/or lower grip-plates without the necessity of removing the grip arms 50 from the grip attachment apparatus. It is also to be noted that, of course, the upper and lower gripplates instead of having holes for positioning engagement with the dowels 67 may instead have small pins attached or fonned on one surface. These pins then enter holes formed in the tongue portion 58 to position the grip-plate on the tongue. This is only a reverse of the shown arrangement of positioning and retaining the grip-plate on the tongue portion of the grip arm 50. It is also contemplated that a dowel could be carried in the tongue and a hole be provided in the grip-plate would be adapted to mate with this dowel while at a like distance from the other end the grip-plate would have a pin portion disposed to mate with and seat in a hole formed in the support surface of the tongue.

Terms such as up," down," bottom, top, front, back," in, out," and the like are applicable to the embodiment shown and described in conjunction with the drawing. These terms are merely for the purpose of description and do not necessarily apply to the position in which the grip-plates for ready removable mounting on a grip transfer arm may be constructed or used.

The conception of the grip-plate mounting method is not limited to the specific embodiment shown but departures therefrom may be made within the scope of the accompanying claims and without sacrificing its chief advantages and protection is sought to the broadest extent the prior art allows.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for applying plastic grips to wire bail handles in which a grip transfer arm is pivotally mounted so that at one limit of movement it is disposed to receive an advancing end n at n u of tubing and at its other limit of movement to position the gripped tubing in way of an advancing wire, said transfer arm including: (a) a forwardly extending tongue formed on said transfer arm, said tongue haying u per and lower supgort surfaces each drsposed to receive an support a remova le gripplate thereon; (b) an upper grip-plate disposed to be carried on the upper support surface of the tongue and when so seated having an extending portion shaped to provide a portion of a guideway for receiving and retaining a cut length of tubing in a determined aligned position; (c) positioning means for establishing a determined orientation of the upper grip-plate on the upper support surface of the tongue, said means adapted to permit ready removal of the grip-plate from the tongue said means also maintaining the determined orientation of the grip-plate as the grip-plate is deflected from a tubing retaining position; (d) biasing means for urging the gripplate towards and to the upper support surface of the tongue and for retaining the grip-plate on said surface except when the grip-plate is deflected from its held position by the deflecting withdrawal of the tubing from its gripped position, and also when the grip-plate is removed from the upper support surface of the tongue; (e) a lowergrip-plate disposed to be carried on the lower support surface of the tongue and having an extend- I ing portion shaped to provide a portion of a guideway for receiving and retaining a cut length of tubing in a determined aligned position; (f) positioning means for establishing a determined orientation of the lower grip-plate on the lower support surface of the tongue, said means adapted to permit ready removal of the grip-plate from the support surface said means also maintaining a determined orientation as the gripplate is deflected from a tubing retaining position, and (g) biasing means for urging the grip-plate towards and to the lower support surface of the tongue and for retaining the gripplate on said surface except when the grip-plate is deflected from its held position by the deflecting withdrawal of the tubing from its gripped position and when the grip-plate is removed from the lower support surface of the tongue.

2. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the grip transfer arm tongue has its face contoured to act as a portion of the guideway for receiving and retaining the cut length of tubing and in which the extending portion of the upper and lower grip-plates have their inner surfaces formed to converge at a point which is a determined distance in front of the face of the tongue.

3. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the positioning means for each grip-plate is at least two dowel ends carried by the tongue said ends disposed to extend from the support surface to mate with, slidably engage and retain the inner portion of a mounted grip-plate.

4. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the biasing means for urging the upper gripplate towards the tongue is at least one L-shaped leaf-spring whose attached leg portion is fixedly mounted to the front face of the grip transfer arm.

5. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 4 in which the biasing means for urging the lower gripplate towards the support surface of the tongue is at least one leaf-spring having a bowed portion extending from a flat attaching rear portion, said spring being fixedly mounted to the under portion of the grip transfer arm.

6. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 5 in which the grip-plates are substantially flat plates having an outer extending portion bent from a common plane to provide an inner included angle of more than 7. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 5 in which the upper and lower leaf-springs are each mounted to engage the respective grip-plates at a line substantially midway of their longitudinal edges. 

1. In apparatus for applying plastic grips to wire bail handles in which a grip transfer arm is pivotally mounted so that at one limit of movement it is disposed to receive an advancing end of tubing and at its other limit of movement to position the gripped tubing in way of an advancing wire, said transfer arm including: (a) a forwardly extending tongue formed on said transfer arm, said tongue having upper and lower support surfaces each disposed to receive and support a removable grip-plate thereon; (b) an upper grip-plate disposed to be carried on the upper support surface of the tongue and when so seated having an extending portion shaped to provide a portion of a guideway for receiving and retaining a cut length of tubing in a determined aligned position; (c) positioning means for establishing a determined orientation of the upper grip-plate on the upper support surface of the tongue, said means adapted to permit ready removal of the grip-plate from the tongue said means also maintaining the determined orientation of the grip-plate as the grip-plate is deflected from a tubing retaining position; (d) biasing means for urging the grip-plate towards and to the upper support surface of the tongue and for retaining the grip-plate on said surface except when the grip-plate is deflected from its held position by the deflecting withdrawal of the tubing from its gripped position, and also when the grip-plate is removed from the upper support surface of the tongue; (e) a lower grip-plate disposed to be carried on the lower support surface of the tongue and having an extending portion shaped to provide a portion of a guideway for receiving and retaining a cut length of tubing in a determined aligned position; (f) positioning means for establishing a determined orientation of the lower grip-plate on the lower support surface of the tongue, said means adapted to permit ready removal of the grip-plate from the support surface said means also maintaining a determined orientation as the gripplate is deflected from a tubing retaining position, and (g) biasing means for urging the grip-plate towards and to the lower support surface of the tongue and for retaining the grip-plate on said surface except when the grip-plate is deflected from its held position by the deflecting withdrawal of the tubing from its gripped position and when the grip-plate is removed from the lower support surface of the tongue.
 2. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the grip transfer arm tongue has its face contoured to act as a portion of the guideway for receiving and retaining the cut length of tubing and in which the extending portion of the upper and lower grip-plates have their inner surfaces formed to converge at a point which is a determined distance in front of the face of the tongue.
 3. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the positioning means for each grip-plate is at least two dowel ends carried by the tongue said ends disposed to extend from the support surface to mate with, slidably engage and retain the inner portion of a mounted grip-plate.
 4. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 1 in which the biasing means for urging the upper grip-plate towards the tongue is at least one L-shaped leaf-spring whose attached leg portion is fixedly mounted to the front face of the grip transfer arm.
 5. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 4 in which the biasing means for urging the lower grip-plate towards the supPort surface of the tongue is at least one leaf-spring having a bowed portion extending from a flat attaching rear portion, said spring being fixedly mounted to the under portion of the grip transfer arm.
 6. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 5 in which the grip-plates are substantially flat plates having an outer extending portion bent from a common plane to provide an inner included angle of more than 135* .
 7. In apparatus for applying grips to wire bail handles as in claim 5 in which the upper and lower leaf-springs are each mounted to engage the respective grip-plates at a line substantially midway of their longitudinal edges. 